INMATES - DEFINING 'CONSENT'
Prison populations are tempting playgrounds for medical research, but we should question the ethics of 'captive' consent.
PLEASE NOTE: Images and descriptions displayed in this museum may be disturbing for some viewers.
Discretion advised.
SOWING DIOXIN ON THE SKIN OF AMERICAN PRISONERS
During the mid-1960s, several prisoners at Holmesburg Prison in Philadelphia, PA were exposed to large doses of dioxin, a chemical found in Agent Orange. Skin tests were performed with dioxin to determine the human threshold and associated effects.
[Image: Temple Digital Collections, 1966. A black man in a lab coat with clipboard communicates with a black man with several bandages on his back.]
WARNING! HIGH VOLTAGE MAY CAUSE ELECTRIC SHOCK, BURN, OR DEATH
From electricity being used for numbing during dental procedures to being used to create a seat of death, the origins of the electric chair truly explore the idea of cruel and unusual punishment.
[Image: Hamilton's Drug Store (1908). Man sitting in a chair with a cloth covering his head and face. Straps are tied around his arms, legs, and head to secure him to the chair.]
RECLAIMING MANHOOD
In search for reclaiming long lost sexual vigor, men went under the knife to have the testicular substance of dead inmates, and eventually some animals, implanted into their testicles. Some even agreed to getting sterilized after being informed of the wonderful “benefits.”
[image: Gillian McCain & Legs McNeil, (January 1953). “Dr. Leo Stanley observing an inmate.” A doctor and one inmate standing close to each other.]
STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENTATION: PSYCHOLOGICAL AND PHYSICAL TORTURE
Innocent college students at Stanford University did not know what was entailed in the experimentation they voluntarily signed up for. The mental and physiological abuse will haunt them forever
[Image: Britannica, 1974. Guards holding a blindfolded “inmates” to gain control of them and force them to abide by their rules]
WOMEN IN PRISONS:
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE ARMY
Women encaged in prison were subjected to infectious hepatitis experiments to benefit the army.
[Image: New York Times, September 5,1950. The New York Times reported on the women who volunteered for the study. The article shines a positive light for the study and praises the women for their participation in the study.]
STATEVILLE PENITENTIARY MALARIA STUDY
To decrease the loss of military personnel during World War II, the US pushed for further medical research regarding malaria. However, this led to the boundaries of informed consent being challenged due to the exploitation of incarcerated populations in malaria experimentation.
[image: Prison Photography, 2010. 1930s Photograph of Stateville Penitentiary]
A QUESTIONABLE SPRAYING
To cure the spread of the influenza virus of 1957, 23 men at a prison in Jessup, MD had the flu sprayed on their noses to test how damaging its symptoms were in comparison to those who received treatment.
[Image: Center, 2018. Members of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union receiving influenza vaccine]
PRISON "FOOD" AND ILLNESS
As state prisons turn to private food providers to cut their costs, many inmates have reported higher rates of food illness due to poor food conditions.
[Image: Kelkar, Kamala. “Prison Strike Organizers to Protest Food Giant Aramark.” Jan. 2017. Brown tray of food containing one slice of bread with a slice of processed ham on top. Bottom left of tray contains mixed vegetables.]
MODERN DAY EUGENICS
From 2005 to 2012, James Heinrich performed approximately 148 sterilizations on female inmates of the California Valley State Prison. Most of these were under dubious consent or none at all. Treatments of fibroids that never were, and most were unaware of the sterilization until the investigations. After thorough investigations, Heinrich was not fired or incarcerated, but resigned a second time.
[Image: Dr. James Heinrich performs a prenatal exam on a pregnant inmate, filmed for the 2007 documentary "Lockdown: Women Behind Bars," at Valley State Prison for Women in Chowchilla, Calif. The OB-GYN ordered tubal ligations without state approval and is responsible for hundreds of other inmate sterilizations. Credit: National Geographic]